We All Have Secrets
by MetalWolfMelody
Summary: Though many actions are innocent, for weathered agents, suspicion arises where the dust has yet to stir. A few simple questions, a few hours spent in secret, all enough to spur unwarranted distrust between team members. But the truth will surprise everyone, because what can someone say when they were hiding a secret that they themselves had yet to discover?
1. Chapter 1

Night had fallen quickly, but after yet another successful day, Charlie had no hesitation in packing up his laptop and papers into his briefcase. There were whiteboards that still needed to be wiped down, case profiles scattered across the table, but he hardly ever bothered himself with such trivial matters. The equations could stand as a testament to the success of this latest case, the fact that his algorithms had once again brought justice to a world full of inequity. He could stand and beam as they praised him, but it was truly the numbers that sang their miracles.

It was part of the satisfaction that came with working with the FBI, the immediate reward to his work, instead of a classroom full of blank faces staring back at him. The gratification received from success was one of the reasons that Charlie was so strongly drawn to such an intense line of work, as his brother had been. A day with the bureau was guaranteed to be more exciting than giving a seminar, and in a way, Charlie had reached a point of no return. After so many cases, after so many brushes with trouble, the adrenaline was something his heart craved. There was no way that he could sit through another hundred seminars without itching to go out and get his hands dirty in the real world.

His idle thoughts were interrupted by the sound of knuckles tapping against glass, and the door to the room sliding open. Turning around, Charlie found his gaze meeting that of Don's hardiest team member, an agent who seemed to look particularly distraught this particular evening. When it came to their agents, Charlie hardly ever saw a flicker of negative emotion, so to see one so quickly was a red flag. He had picked up on this anomaly immediately, so Charlie didn't hesitate in reaching out to his friend, using as kind a tone as possible.

"Hey, Colby, do you need something?" Charlie asked, trying to keep his tone as light as possible, while simultaneously trying to detect the source of a subtle attitude alteration. There was a darkness flickering in the depth of Colby's eyes, as though a storm were raging inside his mind. Silence spanned between the two for just a few moments, but then Colby answered, seemingly reluctant to do so, and reluctance was not a word that served well to describe the field agent's usual attitude.

"I was just wondering… Do you think you could do me a favor?" Colby started, his hands clasped together, thumbs poking at each other idly. "It'd be a pretty big one, but you're the only one I know that could help me out. If you're too busy, or you don't want to, you totally don't have to" he finished, nearly sheepishly, if Charlie had to judge. This was yet another uncharacteristic display from the agent, but those emotions were pushed to the back of Charlie's mind as he tried to process this request that Colby had put forward. There was very little outside of looking at crime from a unique angle that he could do; especially when it came to favors that an FBI agent was asking for. Curiously intrigued, and somewhat excited, Charlie decided that it would do no harm in hearing what Colby had to say. He set down his briefcase, abandoned the papers in his hands, and spoke to Colby will the full sincerity that he felt.

"Depends on what it is. You know what I do, I can't imagine that you need something from me that I can actually accomplish. My field might be useful, but even math has its limits" he tried to explain as gently as possible, hoping not to deter the agent. He wanted nothing other than to be truthful, to stress to Colby once again that his methods were not magic, just math. For a moment, Charlie feared that he had, watching Colby chew on his bottom lip in contemplation for just a second before replying.

"That's the thing, Charlie. It's about math. I want you to teach me."

These few words were just enough to stun Charlie into silence, unexpected to a degree that he was left simply staring at Colby with disbelief. After a few seconds, Colby turned his eyes to the ground, almost as though he were ashamed of what he was asking. Upon noticing this drastic change in demeanor, Charlie immediately tried to amend the situation, realizing that his silence must have made the agent feel as though his request was foolish. Recognizing the courage it must have taken for Colby to ask such a thing, Charlie smiled to ease the tension.

"Of course, Colby, I'd be happy to teach you. What do you want to know?" he tried to comfort, and at the confirmation of the request, it seemed that Colby's usual tempered cheerfulness was back. A crooked smile had come over his face, as though he were an excited child, but his body language was still rigid and defensive .

"Anything at all, Charlie. I want to at least start to understand what you do, any little piece of it. Anything you think you can teach, I'll be willing to learn." The excitement that Charlie had interpreted from Colby's face was suddenly apparent in the pitch of his voice. Inside, Charlie's heart was blooming with excitement. In hindsight, he should have seen something like this coming. Colby was always the first to come to him when he thought that the case might involve a mathematical aspect, even in cases when Don hadn't recognized the same. Something in Colby's mind worked to identify potential numbers and patterns from abstract information, almost as well as one of Charlie's own algorithms. Similarly, it was Colby who had a tendency to recall similar methods from past cases, and ask if Charlie could use them again with a slightly different application. It was this agent above all others who had shown a keen interest, and something as close to understanding as he could with his level of education.

"I think we can work with that." Charlie reaffirmed with a smile, already imagining the full realm of possibilities he could explore. "You know I'm usually at the university during the day, but that's when we're both working, if we're not on a case. Would you be willing to maybe stop by my place some nights? That would be the best. I have a bunch of chalkboards and old books in my garage, which would probably be the best place to get you started. All you have to do is let me know what days you're free, and we could get started as soon as you want" Charlie spoke, his mind already moving at a hundred miles a minute, like it always did when he got an idea. It had only been before Colby showed his enthusiasm that Charlie had been hesitant; now he could see the desire for knowledge plain on Colby's face. The usually businesslike CalSci professor was feeling as though he had been handed a gift, a gift of nothing but potential. Though he didn't know where Colby was in his current mathematics education, there was an infinite possibility for growth- there always was.

"Hey, Charlie?" Colby piped up, interrupting the professor's train of thought. What really distracted Charlie was the fact that Colby's voice had returned to a soft, shameful tone, one that the brash agent had never adopted in front of his peers. It was only when Charlie looked up at Colby that the man finished his statement, still uncharacteristically timid.

"If we really are going to do this, would you mind not telling anyone else? Like, can this just be our little secret?"

To this question, Charlie was slightly confused. He knew that his social skills were somewhat subpar, but none of his rationalizations could understand why Colby would want to hide such a simple thing from his teammates. There was nothing criminal about the study of maths, and Charlie knew he couldn't be the only one that had seen Colby's intense curiosity on the subject. There was no real reason for the agent to desire such secrecy, but as both a good professor and as a good friend, he entertained Colby's request with yet another question.

"I mean, sure thing, but what's your reasoning behind our lessons being secretive?" He asked, tilting his head, almost as though he were a confused puppy. Colby just shrugged in response, looking at the ground as he shifted his weight from one leg to another. It was obvious that he was doing his best to mask his true feelings, as though he had been trained to feel nothing at all.

"Math isn't my thing, Charlie. That's not the guy I am. I'm here to be a field agent. Outside of basic deduction, and plenty of good strategy, I'm not really supposed to be the brains behind the operation. That's your job, that's even Don's job. I'm not here to be smart; I'm here to be effective. I don't want the guys knowing that I'm doing something that I'm not really meant to do. I just figure they wouldn't take too kindly to it."

Charlie almost winced at this. It was scalding to his heart and soul to think that some people still frowned on any type of intelligence. Whether it was due to their field, profession, or because of who they made themselves out to be, such distaste for furthering education was abhorrent. Although Colby didn't present as the genius type, Charlie knew he was smart, and it was a bitter shame that he felt unable to express this to his fellow colleagues. Though Charlie was sure that none of his teammates would particularly disapprove, he had been the butt of enough jokes to understand Colby's reluctance.

"It's whatever you want, Colby. We can make it work however you need to feel comfortable. Just drop me a text telling me what days you're free, and we can get started. Maybe make an effort to brush up on whatever you learned in high school, alright?" he joked, and this was enough to get a smile to curl up on Colby's lips once again.

"Not a problem, professor. Thanks, seriously." he said with a smile, and the agent finally turned around, as though he were preparing to leave. Just before he exited the door, Colby turned around, looking over his shoulder with a cautious glint in his eye.

"Just checking… You won't be charging me for this, right? I'm still swimming in debt from a few courses I took more than a decade ago" he joked, and Charlie couldn't help but laugh at such a thought.

"Of course not" he laughed, shaking his head. "Free of charge. The real cost is having to put up with me for an extra few hours here and there" Charlie finished, smiling broadly as he watched Colby chuckle.

"Whatever you say, professor. I'll seeya 'round" Colby said with a curt nod of his head before making it out the door, shutting it gently behind himself. Charlie sat and watched for a minute as Colby walked out of the office, his casual gait carrying him to the elevators at the far side of the office. As soon as the agent was firmly behind the silver doors, Charlie turned his attention back to his possessions.

Charlie smiled, picking up his briefcase again, and he shoved the last of his papers into it with less care than he normally took. He blamed his growing excitement for his carelessness, trying to reign it in as he thought over all of the possibilities for this coming relationship. Tutoring an FBI agent on complex mathematics, in secret, of all things. If anything else, these coming days would be interesting, but Charlie was utterly assured that they would also be thrilling.

 **Thank you all so much for taking the time to read this story! I hope that you've enjoyed so far. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to drop a review or shoot me a PM. I hope to be updating soon!**


	2. Chapter 2

The sound of rain on the roof was soothing, and the gentle rhythm was easing Charlie's apprehension about Colby's first lesson. The agent would be at his home any minute now, the hands on the clock hovering just above the eight and the twelve. The garage was prepared as well- the worn couch was pushed in front of two empty chalkboards, untouched chalk on the small wooden ledge beneath the powdery green surfaces. Paper was on the small center table, along with a few pencils, their tips sharpened to a gleaming point.

If nothing else, Charlie was terribly excited, excited to the point of apprehension. To find that Colby had such enthusiasm for math, one that he had failed to detect before, was enough to give Charlie a shared enthusiasm. Teaching opportunities such as there were what made him love his position as a professor. Sharing knowledge, sharing what he saw in the numbers, that had always been his goal, his true passion. That wouldn't change if it happened to be Colby sitting in front of him as opposed to a room of college students, paying their souls just to get a higher education. These few hours, and any times in the future, would be fantastically satisfying. Charlie just desperately hoped that Colby might feel the same.

The sound of knuckles on wood shook Charlie from his thoughts, and he went trotting over to the door to the garage. After he opened it, he saw Colby's hulking form taking up the threshold to the door, his body soaking wet with rainwater. Quickly ushering him in, Charlie felt his brows knit close together in concern, and he couldn't help but notice just how drenched Colby's jacket really was. The rain may have been falling steadily, but the trek from the driveway to the garage side door was absolutely minimal. There was no way that he could have gotten so thoroughly drenched from such a short jog.

"Where've you been? You're soaking" Charlie questioned, allowing Colby the space to shrug off his jacket and discard it on the floor, splashing water as he went.

"I parked about two blocks away" Colby admitted, rubbing his hand quickly through his hair, splattering Charlie with water droplets. "I was worried that Don might come here tonight, and he'd recognize my car."

"Even just Don?" Charlie asked with surprise. Though he knew Colby's desire to keep the meetings a secret, he figured that the experienced soldier and agent would be able to trust Don, of all people. Though Don was ultimately his superior, it seemed that the two agents shared a close bond, one of not just trust, but brotherhood. At Charlie's suggestion, Colby bit down hard on his lower lip, and ran his fingers through his hair yet again.

"Yeah. Listen, Charlie, I'm serious about this being a secret. They can't know that I'm learning this stuff. I can't have Don looking at me any differently. I'm in a tough spot, and I can't have anything but positive feedback from him, if I want to go anywhere with this career. And if he finds out that I'm hanging out with his little brother, learning big fancy equations, he's going to start looking at me funny. I know you might not understand, but that's just how it has to be."

"What about David?" Charlie couldn't help but ask. He had seen nothing but positive interactions between the close-knit partners, but it seemed that this comment was the one that Colby reacted the most adversely to. His back went rigid, his eyes narrow, his body stiff and unmoving for just a few moments.

"Why don't we just do the math, Charlie" Colby suggested in a soft voice after a few moments of silence, his body still stiff and immobile. "We can always talk about my personal life a bit later."

"Alright, alright" Charlie muttered, trying to back off, since he obviously hit an exposed nerve. Instead he diverted the attention of the painful moment towards the purpose of the evening. "Why don't you just come sit down over here? I have some stuff set up so we can get started." Nodding to this, Colby walked over towards the couch that had been set up, and tossed a file that he had been holding into his hand on the table.

"This is the file from my latest case" the agent explained before sitting down on the couch and popping the file open. "If Don or Alan do come in, we have an excuse. I'm not here to learn- I'm here for work. Got it?"

Though it was obviously supposed to be a friendly request, Charlie saw through that mask. It was a somewhat desperate demand, almost a plea, and a cover-up for what Colby now saw as a dangerous act. Of course, he was in the position to do nothing but agree to his friend's setup, once more at the risk of becoming livid at the thought of anyone being angered over education. But what could he do now other than accept Colby's proposition?

"Sure thing, Colby" he affirmed, then walked over to the chalkboard he had set up, sketching out a quick diagram to push down his own emotions. The less time spent on awkward conversations, the more smoothly the lesson would go. "I know there's plenty I can go over with you in the fundamentals of basic math, but I'm pretty sure I can teach you a lot if we just go over something that would make sense to you. We all use math every day, but there's ways I can show that will make sense to you."

After a few more strokes of chalk on the board, there was a rough model, with dashed lines and angles. Colby seemed to study it intensely for a moment, but Charlie had to bite back a smirk the moment he saw Colby's eyes light up with recognition.

"That's a trajectory, isn't it?" asked Colby as the agent's eyebrows shot skyward in surprise.

"That's right" Charlie nodded, marking a few numbers on the side of the diagram. "More specifically, this is a model of a sniper firing at someone into a crowd below. I'm about to show you the math that I used to discover the position of the sniper when we were being fired on in the amphitheater" he explained further, nodding again as he saw Colby recall the first in a string of incidents on a protection detail.

"Yeah, and you were able to figure it all out just because I gave you the speed of the bullet that the gun fired" the agent said with a grin, seemingly satisfied with himself

"What was that again?"

"Eight hundred and fifty three meters a second, the weapon he was using was an M1-A1" Colby explained, seemingly delighted as Charlie stuck those numbers on the board. Charlie bit back the urge to chuckle at Colby's enthusiasm for deadly weapons, one which now ran parallel with math tutoring.

"Exactly. So, if we were stuck here" he circled a point on the board, "and the bullets were striking here," he said as he circled another point on the diagram, "and they were going at this speed" he finished, underlining the number that Colby had just recited. He paused just a second for dramatic effect before he posed the true question. "How did I know where the sniper was located?"

"I have a feeling you're about to tell me, Charlie" Colby muttered incredulously, to which they both allowed themselves a laugh. But there was nothing but seriousness in Colby's eyes as he picked up the pad of paper in front of him, took his pencil in hand, and started writing out everything that Charlie did, listening with keen intensity.

-N-U-M-B-E-R-S-

About an hour and a half later, Charlie finally set down the piece of chalk, and Colby set down his pad of paper. Pages of it were full of numbers and diagrams, with notes scrawled in the margins. It was obvious to see that the handwriting had regressed with time, and that Colby wasn't exactly happy. That wasn't how Charlie had wanted it though. The FBI agent wasn't supposed to be happy- he was supposed to have walked away with some knowledge. And from the questions that the brown-haired man had asked, and from the amount of notes that he had taken, Charlie was sure that Colby had indeed learned something or another.

"So as long as I know a base amount of these variables, I can determine position, speed, acceleration, and angle?" Colby asked again, awe still in his voice. Despite the pain of learning trigonometric functions from scratch, and many minutes of frustration, Colby had maintained his enthusiasm. With a small smile, Charlie nodded.

"That's right. And maybe next time I can show you a bit more involving distance and the effects of gravity on a projectile if you're up for some lessons on integration"

"Inte-what?" Colby muttered, his expression turning sour. "I'm pretty sure I did that in High School, and I'm pretty sure I remember just about none of it"

"That's not a problem. You seem to understand kinematics and trigonometry pretty well. Most of my students can't pick up things this quickly" Charlie reassured him, telling nothing but the truth. Colby had learned incredibly quickly, and his potential was infinite. To this, Colby only rolled his eyes with a shake of his head.

"Yes, well you're not trying to stuff two years of high school math into their heads. They have all this down when they walk in. You teach advanced mathematics. I'm sure you went over this stuff in your sleep while your dad was still changing your diapers."

Both laughed at the lighthearted joke, but as Charlie started to clean off the board, Colby stood and made his way to the door. The rain was still falling lightly on the roof, but Colby seemed to dread the trek he had awaiting him on his way back to the car. Charlie could see the look in his friend's eyes as he picked his jacket up off the floor, and seemed dismayed that it was still drenched. Charlie knew how cold he was going to be, and pitying the agent, he went over to him with an idea in mind.

"Listen, Colby" he offered, taking the jacket from Colby's hands. "How about I go throw this in the dryer for fifteen minutes? It'll dry it off a bit and warm it up for you. I know it's late, but another fifteen minutes won't hurt. You can actually look over that case file you brought with" he joked, and to this suggestion, Colby agreed, eyeing the file he had placed on the table earlier in the night.

"Thanks man, that would be great. You're right, I have to write up part of a report anyway. I can do that just as well here as I can at home" Colby said, turning back to the couch where the file was still spread open on the table. Though it had initially been exposed in plain sight, now it was buried under some notes that Colby had scrawled out during their lessons.

Flipping his collar up before he went out, Charlie clutched Colby's jacket in his arms and jogged over to the house through the rain, noting that the rain wasn't falling any more gently- it was falling almost horizontally due to a strong and biting wind. The gentle sound on the well-insulated garage roof and walls had been nothing more than a misinterpretation of nature's true strength. Resisting the urge to curse against the elements, Charlie finally made it into the house, and shut the door gratefully.

As he walked in a bit further, towards the laundry room, he heard the sound of the fridge doors being opened. Curious as to why his father would be awake so late on a night like this, Charlie walked into the kitchen, just to be surprised with Don sitting at the counter, a cold beer in his hand.

"What are you doing here, Don? Don't you have beer at your place?" Charlie asked, stunned that Don was actually in his house. But he knew that he had to pass of his question as nothing more than brotherly suspicion- he had to bite back his shock, his anxiety at the thought of Colby being discovered. Don just shrugged, putting a plain smile on his face.

"I haven't paid the cable bill and I wanted to watch the highlights before I went to bed. You don't mind, do you?" Don asked, to which Charlie had to fake what would have been his normal response were he not worried about Colby waiting in the garage.

"Sure, no problem. Maye you want to get that taken care of, though. You watch those religiously" he joked, continuing towards the laundry room as though Don hadn't interrupted what would have been a totally normal chore. The jacket was clutched just a bit tighter under his arm, hoping that Don wouldn't notice and take an interest in the wet bundle of fabric.

Hey, what're you doing out there anyway?" Don asked, nodding his head towards the garage. Charlie just rolled his eyes, trying to make Don as uninterested as possible, despite the fact that his heart was threatening to beat out of his chest.

"Just some extra work on my cognitive emergence theory, nothing too big. I was going to go to bed soon anyway" he lied, trying to escape. It seemed that the talk of his complex math work did deter his sports-minded brother just long enough that he could sneak by and down to the laundry room, where he threw the jacket into the dryer, and turned it on high with a shaky breath escaping his lips.

As it spun in the metal machine, Charlie listened closely for the TV, trying to hear the game that Don had on quietly. He was mostly listening for any signs of movement, to see if Don was heading out to the garage by any chance. But fifteen long minutes passed, and Don was still by the TV from the best of Charlie's knowledge.

Charlie yanked the jacket out from the dryer, and hurried back up the stairs, where the TV was still on quietly. He hoped desperately to avoid another confrontation with Don, and it seemed that his wishes were answered when he saw his brother slumped over, still sitting on the well-worn chair, fast asleep.

Thanking his luck, Charlie darted back out across the yard, and into the garage, the warm jacket held tightly against his body so as to protect it from the room. As soon as threw open the door to the garage and hurried inside, Colby looked up with tired eyes that sparkled with gratitude. It took a few moments for the agent to close the file and rise, and then walk his way stiffly over to where Charlie stood, shaking rainwater from his curls.

"Thanks, seriously" he said as he took the jacket from Charlie's arms. "This means a lot to me. You good with this again, maybe two nights from now?"

"Sounds great to me" Charlie said, omitting his thoughts about Don's presence in the house. He wanted Colby to come back, he wanted the field agent to have something to be passionate about that didn't involve weapons or anything similar. Even an FBI agent deserved a reprieve from the strenuous demands of such an involved career. With one last smile, Colby wrapped the jacket around himself, seemingly savoring the warmth that radiated through the dry fabric. He hustled quickly out into the rain, and Charlie knew that his pockets were full of folded notes from the lesson, the weight of hours of work stashed close against his body so as to protect them from the elements.

Charlie sighed, and surveyed the room, the recently cleaned chalkboard, the old note sheets and workbooks piled against the back wall, other texts that he had drawn out of storage. The pad of paper sat where it once had on the table, and the few pencils that had been so sharp earlier in the evening were worn down to nubs. The only true blank space was where the file had been sitting, the cover for the mission of education. This was going to possibly be more difficult than he thought, but there was nothing that could make him surrender tutoring with Colby, and Charlie knew that as sure as he knew any formula. Nothing would come between him and his lessons, not his brother, not Colby's team, not the entire FBI. He was a professor, and nothing in the world could stop him from teaching.

 **Thank you all so much for following, favoriting, and reviewing this story! The support is fantastic. I hope to get some more chapters up soon. Hope you enjoy, feel free to drop any kind of feedback in a review, or shoot me a PM. Thanks again!**


	3. Chapter 3

"So what do you think, Charlie?" Don asked, looking at the projection on the board with tired eyes, already anticipating the discussion that would come. It was like this each and every time, staring at the numbers that were scrawled across the two whiteboards, and the colorful images that filled the map before them. It was almost as though the office was transformed into living art, an abstract masterpiece that only the curly-haired mathematician could decipher.

"After my analysis, we can safely determine that their base of operation is in this two block radius. I came up with this using this algorithm, and their general distribution of product over time. This is the origin point of almost all the trades" Charlie explained, gesturing to the other map pinned up on the wall, with lines snaking from neighborhood to neighborhood. One of the agents grabbed a notepad and wrote down the address that was up on the board, and it seemed that most others were already itching to go, Don included. They had their answer; an answer delivered by the hands of a college professor who always had a few numbers in his back pocket.

As always, Don trusted in his brother's math wholeheartedly. Though the finer workings of the calculations were utterly lost on him, there was no doubt in his heart that the two block radius that Charlie had circled indeed held their meth lab. His younger brother's record was completely impeccable, his errors next to none.

Despite the itching in every agent's feet to get out and actually bust the meth lab wide open, Charlie went on to talk about the finer workings of the math he had displayed. Don knew that his younger brother couldn't help it. The enthusiasm that the professor had for the subject was unparalleled, but Don figured out long ago that the easiest way to deal with the mathematical ramblings was merely to tune them out. On the rare occasion he did listen in, he always ended up more confused than he was before he paid such attention.

Today, Don elected to not only ignore what Charlie was saying, he chose to look over his team members, specifically eyeing the one that had been acting a bit strangely. Colby Granger had made no faults in the field, and was just as sharp as ever. There was just one small fault that had been putting Don on edge: Colby had been much sharper than usual, utterly in tune to each and every fracture in the past five cases. All of the FBI agents were smart, clever, and well rounded. But the intensity that Colby had been putting forward, especially in the cases that Charlie had been involved in, was making Don suspicious.

Even now, as Charlie went on about his numbers, most of the agents had tuned out, as they usually did. Some were jotting down notes, others were thumbing through case files. If they weren't doing that, they were shooting each other glances, almost as though they were begging for it to be over. But there was one agent staring intently at the board, following Charlie's every movement with his eyes, obviously showing interest. And eyes belonged to none other than Colby Granger.

Colby's brilliant green eyes were wide, sparkling with interest as he stared at the board, and it seemed that his fingers were itching as he clung onto every word that Charlie said. Don knew that Colby had always been a bit keen on Charlie's math, though he had initially been a skeptic. It was the soldier of the team that was able to spot math where Don or David failed to, and called in Charlie to bring in help on more than a few cases. But in the past few weeks, the dynamic of the group was changing, with Colby clinging to the professor more than he ever had before, taking each word on calculus or trigonometry as though it were gospel.

Today was no different, with Colby staring at the board, as though Charlie were preaching some greater truth. Most other agents couldn't bear it, and of all of them, it was only Colby that couldn't pull away. Soon enough though, Charlie was done, and the group was looking to Don for instructions. Don quickly shook away his thoughts on Colby, pulling his mind into the present. He spit out the words he knew would put the team into motion as decisively as ever.

"Alright guys, suit up, and get down to tactical. Take these maps, and figure out just what building these guys are cookin' in. Once we have that nailed, we'll send the team in and clear 'em out" Don instructed. At his command, the agents all stood simultaneously and filtered out the door with a word. Don closely watched as Charlie gave Colby a warm smile before the field agent stood up and walked away, moving into the steady line of agents streaming out the door.

More often than not, Don was able to suppress his urges, including any that involved irrational, emotional actions. Yet it was that look that Colby had given Charlie that pushed Don towards an even more intense desire for an answer, any sort of solution, as to why those two were acting so differently. Just before David was able to pass him by, Don grabbed the senior agent's sleeve, holding him in the room while everyone made their way down to tactical.

"What's the deal, Don?" David asked quietly as soon as the room was empty, staring at Don with questioning eyes. His voice was hushed, as though he already knew what Don was going to ask, as though the subject were taboo.

"Do you know what's going on between Colby and Charlie?" Don asked, doing his best to tread lightly. He knew his teammates well, and that to infer that something was wrong between Colby and David was to trespass on a more than sensitive subject. "It just seems like something's up" he prompted after a few moments of silence on David's end, trying to look for any emotive change on David's part.

"Why would I know anything about that?" David asked, his tone full of venom, arms crossed in a clear defensive gesture. Don took a half step back, noticing the fire that came to David's eyes as he spoke. It was unexpected, if anything else.

"You're his partner, you guys are like brothers" Don commented, confused at David's change in demeanor.

"Doesn't mean I know everything about his personal life" David muttered, backing down from his defense, drawing a deep breath to his lungs. It would have been obvious to even an outsider that the agent had no desire to continue talking about the subject that Don had presented.

"Hey, hey!" Don started as he saw David turn to walk away, reaching out to grab the agent's arm again. His brows furrowed as he gave David a gentle pull back towards the room, not wishing to aggravate him any further. "What's the deal, David? What's up? Is there something going on between you and Colby?"

"It's nothing" David tried to defend, pulling his arm away from Don's grasp. By the look of defeat in David's eyes, Don knew that the agent was quickly growing tired of the discussion; yet no answers he provided had sated Don's curiosity. He tried to present his argument as gently as possible, bringing in the logistics that he knew David wouldn't be able to argue with. It was in this manner he hoped to prompt an answer that satisfied him.

"Listen, David, I can't have you going out in the field with him if things aren't right between you two. You gotta have each other's backs, you know that"

"I know" David spat, looking at Don with anger filled eyes. "I know that damn well. Whatever's going on with him isn't changing how we work in the field. Hell, I don't even think he knows I'm not happy with him"

"What's going on, David? What has you so upset? If he's not letting you know, or not letting us know something, you don't need to be upset. We can figure that out, I can. Is it something else that's making you upset? Or is it Colby?"

"That's none of your damn business. And last I checked, we have a case we're busy with."

And without another word, David walked out of the office, following the rest of the group down to prepare for the bust. This time, Don didn't fight to pull him back into the office, no matter how much he wanted to. It was obvious that the agent wanted anything except to discuss this matter any further, so reluctantly, Don let him go. They had a case to attend to first of all, for which David's priorities were correct. Personal relations could always wait until a later date, as long as operations in the field weren't compromised. And for that, he had to take David's word.

To try and further answer his own questions, Don moved over to Charlie, who was closing down the projection, and shutting down his laptop. He had been just out of earshot from the conversation, for which Don was grateful. The matter had been more than merely Colby's problems- it was the relationship that he had developed with Charlie that was the problem. Pulling a smile onto his face, Don greeted his brother with all the kindness he could manage following the conversation with David.

"Hey Charlie, good stuff. Thanks for helping out" he said, clapping his brother on the back. Charlie looked up, a half-smile on his face, like there usually was. There was nothing amiss with the professor, other than the way he had been treating Colby, a bit kinder than usual. There was nothing unusual about Charlie displaying kindness. Don had always sworn that Charlie was kind to a fault, but he had never questioned it. Lately, with Colby, something had changed. It had surpassed kindness, for the very nature of the relationship the professor had with Colby was changing, and therefore skewing the entire team. It seemed that Charlie was oblivious to this, however, as he continued to respond to Don with his default mannerisms.

"Thanks, Don. Anything else you need me to do?" Charlie asked, sliding the laptop into his bag, and shuffling around a few of the last papers that were scattered across the table.

"I do have a question" Don began, pausing until Charlie looked him in the eyes. "Is there anything going on between you and Colby? Not like it's bad if there is. I was just wondering because he's been paying a bit more attention to you than usual, and something is going on between him and David. You know anything?"

"No, not at all" Charlie responded hastily, his eyes flicking away. Don knew that this was a sign of Charlie lying, that shy look-away had always been his tell, but he knew better than to push his brother at this very moment. If there was something that Charlie felt like Don needed to know, he'd let him know. It was in that way that Don trusted his brother completely, and he would spare Charlie the degree of inquiry that he would subject his team to. Though he was dissatisfied with the lack of answers, Don pulled a smile onto his face.

"Alright buddy, just let me know if you get a word on what's up. Those two are always pretty tight, and if something's wrong, I feel like I should know about it"

"No problem, Don" Charlie concluded, then wished his brother well and left the office.

Don shook his head for a moment, pondering what he could possibly be missing. Something was going on, something strange, and it involved three crucial members of his team. Though it would do damage to wait until later, pushing his team too far could hurt just as much. According to both David and Charlie, nothing was going on. That only left Colby to ask, and Don already knew he would get much of the same response.

Despite the questions burning in his gut, Don knew that they had a meth lab to bust. Grimacing, and muttering a few foul words beneath his breath, Don sucked up his pride and started to move down to tactical, ready to do his job.

 **Thank you all so much for reading, and being patient with the updates! This chapter is not my best writing, and I recognize that, but I've been having a block lately, and figured it was better to just churn something out than sit around and do nothing. A serious thanks to all the follows, favorites, and reviews on this story. I hope to be updating soon!**


End file.
